1c £ i ~an 0atIjj Ann Arbor, Michigan Thursday, September 18,2014 michigandaily.com BUSINESS A housing sees uptick in luxury, high costs Expensive ings, the research found, were subpar. apartment buildings "we felt that Ann Arbor wasn't ALLISON FARRAND/Dally LEFT Booths at EarthFest handed out apples to students and staff, RIGHT: LSA sophomore Kaitie Benedek pledges to visit the campus farm more often and poses for a picture. arthFest uniotes students in environmental efforts can charge up to $2,000 per month By HILLARY CRAWFORD Daily StaffReporter Traditional college housing - the rickety, aging homes and rarely renovated apartments that smell like Ramen noodles - has had competitors from new luxury apartment buildings near cam- pus. Landmark Apartments, Ster- ling 411 Lofts, Zaragon Place and Zaragon West have all opened in the past five years, and several new luxury apartment complexes are on the rise. Maggie Ladd, executive direc- tor of the South University Area Association, said prior to 2006, the association researched retail business and housing that was offered to students at different universities. Ann Arbor's offer- filling the demand,"Ladd said, Landmark is one complex erected to meet some of those demands. Its amenities are abun- dant; a hot tub, sauna, free bagel breakfasts, a built-in fitness cen- ter, granite kitchen countertops and more. The catch: monthly rent in some units can exceed $2,000 per person. "We have a very sophisticated student body," Ladd said. "They are looking for state-of-the-art places to live as opposed to sin- gle-family places that have been turned into student apartments." Other universities seem to be attracting this "sophisticated" populace as well. Newspapers nationwide are commenting on the new amenities colleges and their surrounding towns are offering, matching their higher- income student body. Rick Perlman, founder and president of Zaragon, Inc., said See RENT, Page 2A Green groups congregate to display their work By ARIANA ASSAF Daily StaffReporter Celebrating and protecting the planet has been promoted by the University for years, but Wednesday, Planet Blue injected new energy into the spirit of sus- tainabilitywith its annual Earth- Fest - a "Party for the Planet" that included food samples, live entertainment and the chance to win an iPad. Music could be heard from beyond the Diag, where about 60 booths weresetuptoeducatepass- ersby about topics ranging from how to make environmentally friendly food purchases to guide- lines for proper drug disposal. To meet sustainability goals, the University promotes creating healthy environment, climate action, community awareness and waste prevention. Barbara Hagan, a sustainability repre- sentative with the Office of Cam- pus Sustainability, said student groups, individual University units and outside nonprofit orga- nizations had all come together for the sake of sustainability and to raise awareness at EarthFest. "The University has goals to reduce our waste, to increase our sustainable food purchases, to reduce the chemicals that we put on the lawns," Hagan said. "So all this is to bring awareness to that initiative as well as all the cool things we have on campus that are working towards those goals." Like Festifall and Northfest, students had the opportunity See EARTHFEST, Page 2A DETROIT Pilot program uses texting for data collection Researchers survey Detroiters through real-time communication By NEALA BERKOWSKI Daily StaffReporter Though texting is generally used as a casual form of com- munication, University research- ers are exploring the medium as a new means of collecting data and interacting with communi- ties. Their pilot participants: low- income Detroit residents. Dr. Tammy Chang, assistant professor of family medicine at the Medical School, and mem- ber of the Institute for Health- care Policy and Innovation, is leading a team of researchers for the pilot. The goal is to collect data on subjects' medical knowl- edge, literacy and numeracy. The study focuses on the residents of the Villages at Parkside, a low- income predominantly African- American community in Detroit, Chang said texting is differ- ent from other forms of collect- ing information, such as online or physical surveys and phone interviews, because it allows researchers to receive real-time information from the group they are trying to learn more about. She also said cell phone owner- ship and use has been found to be particularly high within African- American communities, making it easy to focus the sampling to that demographic. "You're not necessarily going to go to a community meeting after working two jobs," Chang said. "You're not necessarily going to feel like filling out a five- page survey and when somebody calls you on the phone, you may not necessarily feel like talking to them about your opinion about x, y, z things. What's awesome about text messaging for this group is that it's allowing them to speak to us in a language, in a modality that they're used to. They can do it on their time when they feel like it." Zachary Rowe, executive direc- tor of Friends of Parkside, a Detroit nonprofit that focuses on the well- See TEXTING, Page 2A ALLISON FARRAND/Daily Adam Liptak, a U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, speaks about the Roberts court and constitutional law at South Hall Wednesday. NYT reporter provides Constitutional anayi FORD SCHOOL TALKS - Colombian prof.talks country's struggles Speaker discusses violence and new peace initiatives By EMMAKERR Daily StaffReporter Wednesday evening, attendees at the Ford School of Public Policy got an expert's take on violence in Colombia and its government's inability to keep the peace. Alejandro Castillejo-Cuellar, associate professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, stressed the need for leadership and new government strategies for understanding the country's political conflict and its effect on Colombian communi- ties. Castillejo-Cuellar emphasized both the potential and shortcom- ings of Colombia's controver- sial 2005 Justice and Peace Law, which provides a path for former paramilitary antigovernment fighters to reintegrate into main- stream society. Right wing paramilitary See POLICY, Page 2A Document's birthday marked with discussion of longevity, progress By TAYLOR WIZNER Daily StaffReporter To honor the 227th anniver- sary of the U.S. Constitution's signing, Adam Liptak, U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, spoke Wednesday afternoon about the Roberts court and the Con- stitution's role in public policy today. In front of a crowd of about 100 people, consisting mostly of students and Ann Arbor residents, Liptak discussed some of the unique aspects of the Constitution, focusing on its longevity - since the aver- age constitution lasts 19 years - and the short length of the document, which leaves room for ambiguity. One of the more interesting aspects of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights, Liptak said, because of the argument for- warded by many of the feder- alist Founding Fathers that it is unnecessary and danger- ous. Some argue its existence proves that a few select rights need to be protected, without detailing how they should be enforced and excluding other considered rights. "It's the Bill of Rights rather than the Constitution's struc- tural provisions that really cap- ture your imagination," Liptak said. Liptak said a strong focus of See REPORTER, Page 2A WEATHER HI: 67 TOMORROW LO: 50 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM The Basic Guide to Men's Fall Fashion MICHIGAN DAILYCOM/BLOGS INDEX Vol. CXXIV, No. 139 02014 The Michigan Daily michigandoily.com NEWS............. 2A SPORTS ...................... 5A SUDOKU .................... 2A CLASSIFIEDS ............... 6A OPINION ....................3A B-SIDE .................... 1B A -~ 4 A